A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” ⁸ (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.)⁹ The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) ¹⁰ Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” ¹¹ The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? ¹² Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” ¹³ Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, ¹⁴ but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” ¹⁵ The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”

1) Why didn’t Jesus just draw the water out of the well on His own power?
Jesus met this women at an old family well. His disciples had gone into the city to purchase food for them to eat. Jesus had a physical need for a drink of water in the heat of the day. The King of Kings shows His humanity in this request for a drink rather than showing His mighty power in being able to draw the water miraculously. He chose to engage with a sinner in this moment.

2) Why is it significant that Jesus talked with the Samaritan woman?
Jesus was an esteemed Rabbi, a Jew who socially would never interact with a non-Jew, but especially a Samaritan. Jews and Samaritans had a long-standing feud that dated back long before Jesus was born. He would’ve grown up in a society that told Him to ignore these second-class citizens, not strike up a conversation with someone. Secondly, Jesus was a man and culturally shouldn’t have spoken with a woman. Yet, Jesus does both. He reaches out across social and cultural norms to draw this women into conversation and offer her the gift of Salvation.

3) Why does the women at the well doubt Jesus to offer her something better?
This woman and her family had drawn water from this well since the time of Jacob. His body was buried nearby and his family had found refreshment at this sacred site for both themselves and their livestock for ages. She showed confidence that this was the best water in town, she couldn’t believe this random man speaking with her could actually have something better than what she’d been having for her whole life. Jesus gently called her into conversation and her intrigue led her to ask for the “living water” Jesus offered her.

1) Why didn’t Jesus just draw the water out of the well on His own power?
Time and time again, Jesus shows us that relationship with Him is just as important as seeing Him in His glory. He doesn’t expect us to blindly follow a distant and disconnected God because He commands us to. Jesus wants to draw us into an intimate and personal relationship with Him that ultimately will bring glory to His name. That means He wants an intimate and personal relationship with YOU, my sister! Will you accept His gift of life?

2) Why is it significant that Jesus talked with the Samaritan woman?
Jesus sets the bar very high here for what our response to people around us should look like. He broke all the unspoken rules in an effort to share His truth and change this woman’s life. The difference between eternal life with God and life in eternal separation from Him is huge. Under the precedent Jesus set here, we have the charge to share the Gospel in love to ALL the people we come in contact with. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you who He would have you love on today!

3) Why does the women at the well doubt Jesus to offer her something better?
How often do we doubt that Jesus can offer us something better than what we have when push comes to shove? Jesus promises to walk with us and carry our burdens. He will faithfully lead us and all we need to do is walk in obedience. Somehow, that is incredibly difficult to remember in the throes of life. We too, like this woman, doubt that God will follow through on His promises and we continue on driving our own lives. We miss the peace, joy and grace in our lives when we keep taking over. Pray today to lay down your life at the feet of Jesus and let Him flow in you as He leads you into deeper waters.

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Finding the original meaning is a huge deal when we study Scripture and can make all the difference in our understanding as we apply God’s truths to our everyday lives.

In our modern-day relationships, we want people to understand our original intention as we communicate; how much more so between God and humanity?!

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